Controlled release and antibacterial activity of nanofibers loaded with basil essential oil-encapsulated cationic liposomes against Listeria monocytogenes

In recent years, the development of functional packaging from natural active compounds has been a promising strategy for microbial control in foods. In this study, the basil essential oil (BEO) was applied as the principal antibacterial agent , and a controlled-release nanofibrous system was engineered with responsiveness to bacterial phospholipase. It indicated that encapsulation by cationic liposome significantly improved the dispersity and stability of BEO during the electrospinning process, and the prepared BEO-loaded cationic liposomes (BCLs) could maintain structural integrity in polymer nanofibers. The resulting BCLs-loaded nanofibers showed an effective antibacterial activity against L. monocytogenes . Additionally, it is worth noting that incorporation of soybean lecithin in nanofiber substrate could accelerate the release of loaded antibacterial agents when exposed to L. monocytogenes , thus obtaining an enhanced antibacterial activity. This could be attributed to the increased sensitivity of nanofibers to the degradation by bacterial phospholipases after incorporation with soybean lecithin. Finally, the application test showed that the prepared antibacterial nanofibrous mats could help maintain the quality of chilled pork during 4-days storage, which indicated their promising potential as active packaging. Given the serious threat of L. monocytogenes to food safety, the present antibacterial nanofibers have wide application prospect for improving microbial safety of chilled meat. • An antibacterial material was fabricated via loading BCLs into PEO/SL nanofibers. • BCL-NFs showed an effective antibacterial activity against L. monocytogenes. • Incorporation of SL in PEO-based BCL-NFs enhanced the antibacterial activity. • BCL-NFs could maintain the quality of pork during chilled storage for 4 days.